No Food Limits

mn_cupcake_09

Books by K J Foxhall

Sea Shepherd UK

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In recent weeks, I have seen Monster go from strength to strength and it is interesting watching them learn and how quickly they pick up things, it reminds me of how long it takes adults to learn. I complete at least one course or qualification per year and even I am noticing that it is not as simple to retain information as it once was.

There is one thing I have found consistent over the last year and that is the growth patterns of Monster and the money it costs. Ok, I admit, I like buying toddler clothing, and toys, and, well anything I can find an excuse to justify that I might like, but of course is really for Monster. Not to mention the items I find myself hiding at my mother’s so Jack doesn’t find out.

Trousers seem to be the quickest item of clothing that needs to be changed. Luckily, we are at that time of year where trousers can be just long shorts, but overall they seem to be the item that needs to be replaced first. Also, Monster is now reaching that point where their growth has stabilised, at last! Well until they have a spontaneous growth spurt.

Even though Monster was a petite baby, they have grown to be very long and skinny which is fine, but when replacing a pair of trousers, the next size up means that the leg length works but, then there is a massive gap around the waist, and if the trousers have a cord, you cannot put them to tighten them because the cord is a choking hazard, they are just there for decoration.

Brushing teeth

Monster is a rather determined character, I might have said this once or twice before. At fourteen months, they have decided that they will only brush their teeth, no one else. Granted this has been so for several months, ever since Monster could grasp things, but I now understand when people say that you can ruin a toddlers’ day by asking them to put shoes on. I ruin my toddler’s day by wrestling their toothbrush out of their hands.

And they are really strong hands!

Monster see Monster do and what does this thing on your head do?

I feel that nothing is your own when you have a child, for example, Jack and I both wear Bluetooth headsets when listening to music, they are actually the same headsets called Mpow Cheetah and can be found on Amazon.

I foolishly left mine on a low surface the other day, and Monster grabbed it within seconds. I turned around to see that in those same seconds, Monster has fitted it perfectly to their head with the earbuds in place.

Monster then proceeded to bob their head to music, even though nothing was playing.

iSwim!

Monster is starting to walk and like most parents I am hoping it is when I am around to see it for the first time. Even though Monster lacks the required foot coordination and balance (well I say that, I think they do know how to walk, they will just do it when they want to), Monster is a very good swimmer, a little too good in fact. As soon as they see the water, they are flapping their arms and legs around like a fish out of water – excuse the pun. Complete with water wings, all I need to do now is ensure that my hand is in the water beneath Monster as they swim along, just in case they run out of steam and need to rest, but look at the post I put on Facebook, I don’t think there is any issue with their water developments. Though I need to ensure that both armbands are blown up to the same inflation, otherwise Monster swims down on one side and spirals – which can be quite amusing at times.

Let me put that away for you…even though you are playing with it.

We felt the need to seek some additional child care due to our recent change in jobs. This process was more difficult than I expected as most nurseries finish at 18:30, and the earliest I get home is 19:00, not to mention Jack’s hours are all over the place. My mother normally fills in the gaps but some weeks we could be looking at Monster being with her for four days. When dealing with an over-energetic (happy) child, this can be a bit too much, for anyone really.

We think we may have found someone who is perfect. They have a child who is has a very similar personality to Monster and they all seem to get along really well.

Lately I have been teaching Monster to put their toys away before bed, not only does it promote good behaviour (hopefully), but also it increases the ‘quiet time’ Jack and I have together in the evening. Well I think Monster was a little confused the other day as they began putting the toys away around the childminder’s house, which sparked confusion with the childminder’s toddler. Monster would put the toys away and the childminder’s toddler would take them back out again.

It kept them occupied for all of ….. 10 minutes.

“Would you like your drink?” “No!” *Pushes flask away with hand*

On the same topic, when Monster was going through the settling in sessions with the childminder, she asked Monster if they wanted some of their drink, well Monster was not exactly in the happiest moods that day and quite bluntly told her ‘No’. Keep in mind that Monster has only said the odd word, and as above with the working, it is on their terms.

Finally, I am starting to think that children nowadays have short attention spans, or perhaps we just give them too many over cognitive development, activity toys?

I regularly go to the charity shops to find toys, it is something my sister-in-law also does. While it is good on the purse, on the flip side, it also means you buy more. I have limited it down to one-two toys per month and ensure that one is educational, but the other is fun. For example, we went to a wildlife park recently and so I bought Monster a cuddly toy lemur (further detail on that comical day are to follow in another post). Did Monster really need the lemur, no of course not, so I suppose it is a mixture of unnecessary buying and toys nowadays which are created with the aim to do everything.

Additionally, the question can also be asked, do we push our children too far, particularly with technology related toys?

If you look at any toy, the description on the box will focus on particular developmental areas. I think that many toys are now trying to concentrate on multiple areas so you buy fewer, not to mention the competitive edge between the toy companies. While this sounds economical from a practicality aspect, does this mean that we are pushing children to learn certain things too early, or pushing them to learn quicker? As a reflex, if a child learns too quickly, then where does it stop, and does this mean that we, and the toy companies, are inadvertently making our children unhappy and constantly needing more items to keep their attention spans active? This in turn rules out the theory of needing few toys.

A very contradictory thought process, but then again so is the subject matter. I would be interested to hear other opinions on this. Overall, where toys are concerned, do we go too far nowadays?